Saturday, the 4th of November was the day Wellington celebrated Guy Fawkes Day here in New Zealand. This holiday, which originated in the U.K., recognizes a failed attempt in 1605 to blow up the Houses of Parliament. This full details of this holiday’s rather bizarre roots can be read about here.
Kiwis need few excuses to shoot off fireworks – they’re quite infatuated with them, much to the dismay of the local fire departments. We felt like it was only proper to play along, even though it felt strange to do fireworks in a month other than July! So, Stacey and I attended a spectacular show put on in Wellington Harbour. It was very windy and a bit nippy, so we took along a blanket and I picked up a flat white along the way. Otherwise the weather was quite nice, with only a few clouds in the sky and the moon was shining. The crowds gathered along the waterfront all the way from Queen’s Wharf to Oriental Bay for the show. We got there early for a good seat, and wrapped ourselves in the blanket. Meanwhile, the Kiwis swirled around us in shorts and t-shirts, completely oblivious!
The fireworks themselves were launched from barges way out in the harbour. Many other sailboats and yachts had gone out to sea with their passengers to get good views, It was a spectacular show, and the city was really beautiful. Even as we watched the big show, we could see smaller rockets and explosions in the sky over the neighbourhood of Mt. Victoria. The sound of the explosions reverberated off the water, making them seem even louder than usual. Stacey missed the music that usually accompanies the fireworks displays we see at the Braves games. (They air a soundtrack on the local radio stations, but we failed to bring a radio with us! Oops. And no one around us had one either…)
So, she hummed some tunes and we cheered at the show. It was a good night.
1 comment:
We routinely hear what sound like gunshots near our flat on Ghuznee Street. At first, I was a little worried, then realized it was fireworks. This was well before Guy Fawkes, and continues to this night. I am told they are never out of fashion, and that people like to shoot them at each other for fun. I am reminded of that line from A Christmas Story..."You'll shoot your eye out, kid!"
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